Refusing to toe his party's line, Kerala Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan on Wednesday said Governor RS Gavai's nod to CBI to prosecute CPI-M state Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan in the graft case did not come as a shock.
Declining to term Gavai's action as a "serious breach of Constitutional norms" as dubbed by his party and some of his ministerial colleagues, Achuthanandan said he was not "shocked or surprised" by the Governor's decision as there had been similar precedents in the country.
"There have been precedents of governors having taken decisions like this using their discretionary powers after studying the matters under their consideration," he told reporters after a Cabinet meeting in Thiruvananthapuram.
"I don't consider this as a great surprise.There have also been references made by the Supreme Court in similar situations," he said to a specific query if he thought the Governor had violated Constitutional norms as alleged by his party leaders in the state.
On Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan remarks that Gavai's action of communicating the decision directly to the CBI without informing the state government involved grave procedural lapse, Achuthanandan said there was no need to discuss that now as the Governor had already passed on the order to the government, which was his responsibility.
Achuthanandan, who is locked in a bitter feud with Vijayan on a host of issues, has repeatedly refused to toe CPI-M politburo line that the case was politically motivated.
{{/usCountry}}Achuthanandan, who is locked in a bitter feud with Vijayan on a host of issues, has repeatedly refused to toe CPI-M politburo line that the case was politically motivated.
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